Stories for February 14th 2018

In an impassioned 10-minute rebuttal to police recommendations to indict him on bribery and breach of trust charges, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation on Tuesday night that not only will this government complete its term, but he will again be re-elected in 2019.

United Kingdom inflation remained at 3% in January, the same level as in December, as reported by the Office for National Statistics, ONS. In November it was the six year high of 3.1% and most economists were expecting a small fall in the CPI to 2.9%.

The chairman of the charity Oxfam International, Juan Alberto Fuentes, has been arrested in Guatemala. Fuentes was detained as part of an investigation into a corruption scandal dating back to his time as Guatemala's finance minister, but no charges have been brought so far.

This Wednesday, the first ever budget flight from London to South America departs from Gatwick airport. Fares on the 14-hour Norwegian Air Shuttle flight to Buenos Aires start from £259 one-way. The seats are tightly packed and food and luggage cost extra, but the no-frills model of flying, so well established on short-haul routes, is becoming increasingly common on intercontinental flights.

The winners of the 2018 Cruise Critic UK Cruisers’ Choice Awards were announced today. The awards name the most popular cruise ships of the year, based entirely on UK reviews posted to the Cruise Critic website. The site boasts the largest online cruise community in the world with more than 350,000 cruise reviews, covering approximately 500 of the most popular cruise ships.

Sky and BT Sport have agreed to pay £4.464bn to broadcast Premier League football games for three seasons from 2019-20. Five of seven live packages have been awarded, with bidding for the remaining two ongoing. Interest from “multiple bidders” remains, the Premier League said.

Europe welcomed 671 million international tourist arrivals in 2017, an outstanding 8% growth compared to 2016 (+2%), consolidating for the eighth consecutive year, its position as the leading destination worldwide.

The Wall Street Journal has published a piece on the political situation of Argentine president Mauricio Macri, battling inflation, an undelivered electoral pledge, and allegedly very much aware of a long standing spell: no non Peronist president has been able to complete the mandate for which he was elected.